Dark Ranger
by werewolves779
Summary: Cade williamson is 23 years old. He is a soldier of the shadows that goes by the name Dark Ranger. In his suit of pure black, he fights crime and protects Blackwater city, a city filled with a dark past that should never be remebererd...
1. I Bet My Life

Dark Ranger

Chapter 1: I bet my life

Present day

Cade Williamson is a twenty-three year old man living in Blackwater city. Two years ago he donned the black mask of Dark Ranger, becoming the protector of the city & savior of the people. Both of his parents were killed in a car crash when he was twenty. He is the last surviving member of his family. This is his story.

Downtown Blackwater is a peaceful neighborhood with friendly citizens almost always filling the bustling streets, purchasing a wide variety of trinkets from gift shops & jewelry stores that seemed to litter the area like a plague. That was on a normal day. Today was panic engulfed the area as two young men, bearing the elemental powers of thunder & lightning, began terrorizing the citizens & destroying everything in sight. They were searching for the one called 'Dark Ranger'.

"Where is he? Where is Dark Ranger?!" The lightning wielder called out to the terrified citizens. "My brother & I need to have a talk with this 'Dark Ranger' scumbag." He flung a lightning bolt at a nearby stop sign, cutting it in half. It fell to the ground with a loud ting.

"Maybe he isn't here. Let's go before we make fools of ourselves." Black Thunder didn't have patience for an unconfirmed rumor of the ranger's whereabouts.

"Shut up!" White lightning bursted out in fury at his brother. "He's here somewhere & I will have my revenge. His crimes will not go unpunished."

Dark Ranger lurked deep within the shadows, waiting, inspecting the two elemental crooks. He was waiting for an opening to attack. He tended to reveal himself sooner than this, but he had to take extra precaution as he was used to petty thugs & thieves.

"Brother, please let's go before we make fools of ourselves." He repeated. "If he was here, he would've shown up by now wouldn't he?"

White lightning sighed. "He's most likely watching us at this very moment. The Dark Ranger is known to stick tot he shadows, even in the brightest of days. Did you not read the profile report before we arrived?" Lighting looked at the shadows in the alleys casted by the buildings trying to see through them & spot his target. "Damn it, Thunder! Did you read the report... Or not? The hell?! Thunder! I demand you come back from whatever dumbass place you've gone yo this time! Where the hell are you?!" Lightning raised his guard and prepared to fight.

"Listen here purple guy, i don't know who you two are, but I suggest you get your friend over there and disappear before things get ugly. And no one wants to deal with ugly, right?" Dark thunder asked the purple skinned thunder wielder. While Lightning was distracted, Dark Ranger pulled Back Thunder into the shadows. Thunder opened his mouth, but Dark Ranger covered it before he could speak. "Don't speak. I swear, I will end you right here. Just nod your head. It's that simple." Thunder nodded in agreement. "Good good. Now go back out there and make sure this never happened. Go get 'em you big grapeball. I'll be watching. So don't fuck up."

Lightning spotted his round shaped brother coming from an alleyway. "Where did you go? Did you find him?" Thunder hesitated to answer the questions and White Lightning grew impatient quickly. "Answer the me you damn dirty ape!" Lightning's eyes were turning pure yellow with rage & Thunder finally let out a reply.

"No. I thought I had found him but I didn't find anything."

Lightning's eyes returned their natural green color. "Next time, answer me when I ask something. I hate being ignored." Suddenly, a sharp pain arose in lightning's back that felt as if something had pierced his spine. "Aggh!"

"Sorry for the cheap shot, but I take what I can get. No hard feelings, okay?" Dark Ranger grabbed White lightning's head and elbowed him into the ground. Lightning's eyes quickly turned back yellow as he stood up.

"You bitch!" Lightning yelled in rage. "No one attacks me and lives to tell the tale!" He hurled a lightning bolt aimed for Dark Ranger's head.

He rolled out of the way & the bolt of electricity exploded on the street, destroying the smooth pavement. "I'm not paying for that." Dark ranger said.

"Damn it! Thunder! Stop hovering around like a useless fuck and and attack this fucking dumbass!" Lightning yelled at his brother. Thunder do as his brother commanded and clapped his large hands together, creating a loud boom of shockwaves that echoed throughout the alleys & forced the hero down into a kneeling stance.

"Damn. I can't move!" Dark Ranger muttered. An electrical wire coiled around the him, forcing his arms flat on sides. The coil rose up to where Lightning was floating in the air. The villainous wielder of lightning stared into Dark Ranger's eyes with hatred and rage. They were green and the only thing that wasn't covered by his mask.

"Go ahead. Kill me. It won't change a thing." Lightning snickered.

"We aren't here to kill you per say, more like, interrogate you and then judge whether or not you deserve to live anymore"

"You attacked an entire city just to ask a few questions? What, you want my autograph or something? All you had to do was ask. Jeez. Overreacting much?" Lightning right hooked him as he finished talking. Dark Ranger attempted to retaliate, but the coils had bound him to their bidding. "That isn't going to make me want to give you my autograph yknow."

"You're smartass remarks are going to be your downfall if I don't kill you first. Do you recall the events of eight months ago?" Lightning asked.

"Probably not. I rarely remember what I eat the day before. But you're welcome to enlighten me."

"Does the name 'Gray Cloud' ting any bells?"

"Hmm.. Maybe. It seems like its ringing way off in the distance though. Why?"

"He was our father! You murdered him you selfish fuckstick!" Lightning kept himself from striking the hero.

"Oh. Yeah I did do that. But I know what your thinking, but I had no choice. I didn't want to do it. I tried to reason with him, but he wouldn't listen. I understand you lost your father. I list both my parents at the same time. I feel your pain. But you have to understand that I had no choice. It was either him or the city. I'm sorry."

White Lighting laughed. "You're going to share his fate Dark Ranger. I will have my revenge." Lightning resonated in his palms, but before he could deliver the fatal blow to the shadowy hero, he was stopped by a force grabbing his arm. Lightning's eye twitched as he slowly turned his head to see that it was own brother that had stopped him.

"Don't do it brother. He had no choice. It's not his fault." Thunder told his brother.

"You want me to let him go free? To not answer for his mistakes? He killed our father! Does that mean nothing to you?!" Lightning's rage was pouring out of him like a waterfall. Thunder bowed his head before facing his white suited brother.

"Its sad, our father is dead I know. But that still doesn't give us the right to end this man's life! Even if he did kill our father." Thunder's eyes watered.

"You're a disgrace. Do you know that Thunder? You are the biggest piece of shit I've ever had to be around in my life. Even worse than this fucking murder! Just leave. I don't care where you go. Just get the fuck away from me before I put you both down. I never want to see you again, Thunder. You're no brother of mine."

Black Thunder let his brother's arm go as a tear ran down his cheek. "Fine. But when you're dying & wishing I was there to save you, don't expect me to bail you out." Thunder snapped his finger & vanished like a magic trick. Lightning turned to Dark Ranger, who still trapped in the coil.

"Now that one of you is out of the picture, its time for you to die. I'm going to kill you. Then I'm going to kill every last person you fight to protect. Their cries for you to save them them will be music to my ears."

"Yknow, you may kill me now, but I'll be back. And I'll keep coming back until the day I kill you with my own hands because you are a worthless parasite that needs to be extinguished. I don't care if you kill me, but I won't let you touch anyone else in this city. That is my word and I will keep it."

Lightning laughed. "You can't stop me. I can kill you right now." Lightning shrugged his boney shoulders and smirked.

"I can't die tight now. I have some pizza rolls I need to eat back st home and if I don't they'll go bad & I would've just wasted money. I'm sure you understand." Dark Ranger told his captor.

"I don't care about your pizza rolls. I don't even know what that is. Stop with the remarks already. Its getting tiresome."

"Fine. I'll make you an offer you can't refuse. Just hear me out. I may be able to resurrect your father." Lightning's eyes widened. "Give me... Give me a month. In one month, meet me here & if I've succeeded in the resurrection, you all leave and never come back. If I fail, I'll allow you to kill me. But only if you don't kill anyone else."

"And the catch?" Lighting asked unable to believe such a deal didn't have some strings attached.

"You can't interfere with the resurrection. That means no crime or anything against the law for the entire month. That'd all I'm asking. Just give me some time."

Lighting thought for a moment. The coils suddenly lowered Dark Ranger back to the ground and unraveled. He Shook's his arms to wake them back up and looked up to White Lightning who was eyeing him like a hawk.

"Get out of here before I change my mind, human."

"Not until you give your word. If you don't, strike me down now and lose your one chance at getting your father back." Dark Ranger replied.

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Your earth customs are demeaning. I give my word to follow your rules until the month us over, but if you fail, I'm killing you while the biggest smile I can muster is on my face."

"Close enough. Watch out! Thunder's going to kill you!" Dark Ranger said as he pointed behind White Lighting.

"What?! Thunder you-" Lighting turned around only to see the deserted buildings behind him.

Lightning smiled. He was going to have a lot of fun with this hero." You better keep your word, Ranger. I'll be keeping mine." He called out, thinking maybe the hero was still hiding close by. Lightning vanished similarly to the way his brother had earlier.

As cade jumped through a second floor window, that led into his bedroom, he angrily ripped the black mask of Dark Ranger from his face. He knew there was no way to resurrect Gray Cloud & even if there was, it'd take much longer than a month to complete. He sat comfortably in a rolling chair in front of a flat screen computer monitor. He had three new messages on an online chat software. All three were from an account by the name of 'Beatrix22'.

The first was a simple "hey" that was sent two hours ago about the time he'd left to deal with Black Thunder & White Lightning, followed by a row of five questions marks that was sent twenty minutes after the first message. The last message was more recent, only fifteen minutes ago & read 'Are we still meeting tonight or not?'. Cade leaned back with a sigh, the chair rolling back a few inches. He'd forgotten he was supposed to the woman tonight at 9:30. He sighed again this time louder and began typing a reply.

'I'm sorry. I want to meet with you, bit recently things have come up that will prevent me from doing do any time soon. I hope you aren't mad. I promise we'll meet up soon.' Within a minute, Cade had received a new message from the woman. It read 'I understand. Don't worry. Do you want to talk about it?' He relied quickly with a 'no, I have to go. I'll see you later.' As he stood up, he realized h hadn't changed our of his costume. Cade undressed and and put a pair of black pants and a black shirt with a gray skull covering the front. Cade put the hero costume deep into his closet, away from view and made his way downstairs into the kitchen. His friend Johnny, Red was lying on the couch asleep in the living room.

"Johnny!" Cade yelled. Johnny woke up with a jump & fell on the floor. "Why are you in my house? Cade asked as he waked over to Johnny who was on the floor rubbing his head.

" well, before you nearly killed me just then, I was trying to sleep. But you rudely interrupted me." Cade grabbed Johnny's arm and pulled him up.

"But why in my house? You have a house to yourself to sleep in."

"I came over to see if you wanted to hang out and you weren't here so I figured you'd be back soon and waited for you. I fell asleep while you were gone." Johnny noticed how messy Cade's hair was from the mask he'd been wearing. "You weren't out doing the thing were you?"

Cade rolled his eyes. "Yes. I was out risking my life so you could sleep peacefully in my house on my couch instead of yours."

Johnny smiled. "So when are you going to let me go with you? We could fight together, side by side, Dark Ranger & his sidekick Johnny Red." He said as he executed poor karate moves in the air.

'"Dark Ranger & Johnny Red' will never be a thing. Just be glad you know my secret. I didn't want you to know at all. Especially not the way you found out. Its best if you just forget about joining me. Stop chasing a dream & start progressing towards reality." Cade relied as he grabbed a bottle water from the fridge in the kitchen. Johnny's blazing fire of hope had been reduced to a dying ember of despair. Johnny sat back on the couch in disappointment.

"Johnny. I don't need your help out there. I need you out in normal society with everyone else, keeping up with what I can't. You're my second eyes and ears. That's more Important than fighting beside me."

Johnny gave a faint smile and stood up again. "That makes sense. With you out fighting all the time, you don't have time to be social & keep up with the rest of the world. I'm one of your most important assets!" Johnny's fading ember had been restored to its natural blaze. Cade smiled and welcomed his friend to stay the night, which Johnny happily accepted.

Cade hated lying, especially to his friends, but Johnny couldn't handle the truth. Not yet.


	2. Origins

**even chapters will most likely be shorter than their odd counterparts.**

Chapter 2: Origins

18 months earlier

Blackwater bank was having a normal day as usual, people coming in cashing checks and making deposits or withdrawals. The front doors violently swung open, the jingle bells that were tied to the handles jingled.

"Put your hands on your heads and get on your knees! Do as we say & no one gets hurt." A ma. Wearing a black ski mask, a leather jacket with a ripper pocket, black pants & a pair or gray tennis shoes yelled as three more men came in wearing similar outfits, each carrying a shotgun and a duffel bag.

The bank was reduced to a mad house as everyone threw themselves to their knees in the main lobby.

One of the shotgunners collected jewelry, wallets & anything else of value that the hostages had in them. The leader shot into the air. Sheetrock showered the terrified hostages. "So far so good. Anyone here happen yo know how to open the vault?" The leader asked.

"I... I do." On of the lineups said quietly with fear in his voice. Holding his shotgun to one of the employee's throats he continued to talk. "Was it you? Did you say something just now?" The man, no older than thirty, burst into tears and pulled his head away from the gun barrel.

"Just answer him. Its for your own good." The wallet collector said as he finished his part of the heist. The man wiped his tears away and spoke hesitantly.

"Y-yes. I can open it for you. Just don't k-ki-kill me." The gun lowered to the floor and the leader smiled.

"If you want to live, open the vault. Otherwise, we'll blow your brains out onto the floor." The employee stood up slowly, his hands hesitantly lowering from his head. He lead the men to the vault. Only one guard stayed behind to watch the hostages, the wallet collector. While the others loaded up the money, Dark Ranger jumped down behind the guard , grabbed his neck and covered his mouth.

"You have two choices here. Either help me & don't go to prison with your friends, or I kill you. Would you like to die today?" Dark Ranger asked the henchman, who dropped his duffel bag and made a muffled 'no' response. "Good. Just act like this didn't happen & we should be good, but if you do anything, & I mean ANYTHING I don't like, I'll kill you. Understand?"

The frightened man nodded quickly & Dark Ranger let him go. The wallet collector turned around as soon as he was freed, but the masked vigilante had vanished into the shadows. A few minutes later the other criminals had returned with the man & the filled up duffel bags.

One if the other henchmen noticed that the wallet collector was trembling. "You okay? What's up with all the shaking and shit?"

He wasn't sure how to answer. He couldn't tell the truth or he'd die. "Just nervous I suppose. I'm fine. No worries." He gave a fake smile & the others forgot about it.

The leader round up his men and threw the bags in the trunk. They drove off with the wallet collector & one other henchman. The missing guy was lying in the parking lot with a bullet in his head. Less people meant more money, & that was what mattered. The wallet collector sat in the back by himself & looked down. Dark Ranger was lying in the floorboard & put a finger to his mask covered lips.

"Johnny, how was your first robbery?" The passenger asked. Johnny leaned his head on the car window.

"Good I guess. Never felt anything like it before." As johnny was answering the man, Dark Ranger silently made his way into the opposing back seat from Johnny. Johnny suddenly had a sick feeling arise inside him. He felt nauseous. The passenger didn't respond back.

"So, how big of q cut do I get?" Dark Ranger asked. Johnny beat his head into the window.

"Johnny? What's wrong with your voice?" The leader asked, moving the rear view mirror to look back & seeing Dark Ranger in the backseat. The car screeched to a hault in the middle of the road


	3. My Demons

apter 3: my demons

Present day

Cade woke up early to sneak out before Johnny noticed he'd left. Cade had to go back to where it all started- the place he'd slain Gray Cloud six months earlier. With a solid black hoodie, a pair of black pants with a silver chain attached to the left side and a pair of black sneakers, Cade escaped into the darkness of the dawn. The sun would be up in an hour or so, but Cade knew he could get where he was going and back before the sun peeked over the horizon.

He didn't know for sure why he was returning to where Greg Cloud had been killed. After Dark Ranger had killed him, Gray Cloud's body was taken away and the area was swept clean of any evidence by the F.B.I. & Blackwater police station. Nothing was there for him anymore. He'd tried so hard to forget but now his life & possibly the entire city depended on him remembering those painful events.

Cade grabbed an apartment staircase railing and pulled himself upon the short balcony and made his way to the rooftop. Once there he ran across and leapt to the next building. Rolling to lighten the fall, Cade continued scaling the rooftops until getting to the one he'd had his final showdown with Gray Cloud upon. On an air conditioner unit, a streak of dark red, almost brown with age, was splattered on the side. Each time it was cleaned, it returned within minutes. It was like a curse to Cade. A permanent reminder of the final battle. He swallowed heavily, & closed his eyes as he kneeled in front of the blood stain. "I'm sorry. I failed you. But, now I need your help. I have to resurrect Gray Cloud. I know. I know. I have no choice though. If I can do it, his sons will tale him to wherever they're from & leave peacefully. Now, is there anything you can do to help me out." Cade asked the unit.

It replied with a puckering noise & Cade gave a faint smile. A single tear rolled down his cheek out of his right eye. He wiped it away & looked at his watch. 5:43. The sun would be up in less than half an hour. Cade stood up, took a final glance at the blood stained unit & began his journey back home.

Johnny was still asleep & it was 6:02. The first signs of light had began to reveal themselves through the creases in the blinds. Cade knew he wasn't going to forget anytime soon about the events. He had to remember everything. Every single detail of his final showdown with Gray Cloud.

Whenever Cade needed to think about something important like this. He preferred to be lying in bed, staring at the . something about it made it easier to focus & more relaxing. A quick knock came to his bedroom door and Cade lost his focus. "What is it, Johnny?"

"You wouldn't happen to have some money I could borrow would you? I don't have any & you're the only one I know that'll help me out." Johnny said from the other side of the door. The door opened and Cade pushed a was of money into Johnny's chest.

"Here. It's a thousand dollars. Go have some fun or something."

Woah. Cade. Man, a thousand dollars? I don't need that much." Johnny said trying to hand back most of the money.

"I know you don't need it. But I want you to have it. Plus I want to be alone right now anyway. That should be plenty to tide you over for awhile."

Johnny placed the money in his wallet and shook his head disappointedly. "Keep this up and you'll be broke." Johnny told his friend as he walked our, shitting the door behind him.

"I already am." Cade said faintly as he looked out the window. "Just not in that way."

 **I know its short but I feel like it progressed the story well and raised some interesting questions concerning Cade's mysterious past. Chapter 4 will be up soon.**


	4. Hostage Situation

Chapter 4: hostage situation

18 months ago

The car screeched to a halt in the middle of the road, leaving rubber skid marks behind it. Both if the men in the front seats quickly grabbed their shotguns, aiming them at Dark Ranger and Johnny. The guns were crossing over each other like an 'X'. The leader was the first to speak.

"What the hell johnny?! Are you with him from the start?" Johnny was speechless. His own gun was too far away for him to grab it without getting shot.

"Now, now, now, it isn't his fault. I made him an offer he couldn't refuse. If anyone, I'm to blame for this. He was but a pawn in a game he didn't even know he was playing." Dark Ranger explained as he glanced at johnny who was trembling in fear.

"Shut up", the leader began fiercely, " we didn't tell you to speak." Dark Ranger slowly turned to him with a psychotic look in his eyes that would strike dear into anyone who saw it.

"I don't need your permission. You're nothing more than a low life criminal. You don't deserve to be in my presence." As soon as he'd finished his sentence, he grabbed the shotguns, pulling them down towards the back floorboard. Both guns fired, creating a large hole that you could see the pavement through.

Before either knew what was happening, the soldier that lurked in the shadows had already disarmed them. "Get out. Don't run. Unless you want to die today that is."

With their hands held high, both men slowly exited the stolen vehicle. "Stay here. I'm going to keep you out of trouble." Dark Ranger told Johnny as he stepped out the car,leaving the guns behind. The criminals were sitting on the hood. "Alright. Listen up. You see that guy in the car?" He pointed to Johnny. "Neither of you've ever seen Jim before today. He was a hostage. He's innocent. Do you understand?" Both of them nodded.

"Are you going to kill us?" The second in command asked with a choke.

"Only if you don't cooperate. If you say anything about Johnny, I'll make sure neither of you survive. One of you give me your phone." He said holding out his hand. The leader pulled his phone out and set it in the hero's palm. Dark Ranger thanked him & called the police. After a few minutes, he ended the call & tossed the phone into a half frozen lake about thirty-five feet away. "The police'll be here soon." He told them as he walked over to Johnny & knocked on the window. Johnny tolled it down. "Sorry." Dark Ranger said.

"For wh-" johnny began to ask but couldn't finish. Dark Ranger punched him in the eye. "What the hell?!"

"It has to be convincing. You're a hostage not a princess. Stick with the hostage story & you should be fine." Dark Ranger explained. "Now give me your gun." Johnny gave him a confused look. "Give me the gun or go to prison. Your choice." Dark Ranger told him. Johnny sighed and handed his gun over to the hero. Dark Ranger threw it in the lake he'd tossed the phone in earlier.

"Woah, Woah!. What the fuck?!" Johnny yelled.

"Three guns means three criminals. You're clean. Keep it that way." Dark Ranger replied as two police cars came skidding around the corner.


	5. First Date

Chapter 5 first date

Present day

(28 days until deadline)

Cade messaged Beatrix, "Think you manage to meet up in an hour at at 12:20?".

She replied soon after, " Yeah. Where at?"

"Hmm... Meet me at Hotel 6 at 12:20."

"Alright. I can't wait! I'll be there as soon as I'm ready." Followed by some hearts & kisses. Cade stood up from the black rolling chair & got dressed in a pair of black jeans, & a maroon polo shirt. Johnny was still at Cade's house for some unknown reason. Johnny had eaten all of Cade's pizza rolls two days ago. Cade wasn't happy about that. Johnny bought more with the money Cade had given him yesterday though.

"I'm going out Johnny. Protect the mansion until I get back." Johnny rolled over still asleep. "Better set the alarm system." As he was leaving out the door & heading to the garage, Cade armed the alarm system mounted on the wall. Cade stepped into his garage and suited up in a black helmet and jacket and got on his fully blacked out street bike. He pressed a button fastened on the handlebars that let the garage door up and left for Hotel 6. He arrived at 12:03.

At the front desk he rang the service bell. A man in his late fifties or early sixties came to the counter. "Ah, Cade Williamson. What brings someone with money like yours to Hotel 6?"

"I'm meeting someone here. Could you do me a favor though?" Cade asked, leaning in & handing his credit card to the elderly man.

"Certainly." The man swiped the card and handed it back to Cade with the key to the hotel room. "What do you need, Sir?" Cade explained it to the aged man and he understood. No worries. I understand. It'll be our little secret."

"Thank you, Jameson." The hotel doors swung open as a woman walked in, dressed in a nice blue dress & small red heels. She shyly walked over to the counter where Cade was standing.

"Are you ready?" She asked leaning her head to the floor. Seeing that she was uncomfortable, cade grabbed her small delicate hand. She wasn't very tall. About a foot shorter than Cade with black hair to her shoulders. He led her to their room & she sat on the bed unsure what to do. Cade sat beside her.

"Is something the matter?" He asked.

"No. I'm Judy shy is all. Its nothing you did. What're we going to do now?" She asked with a faint smile.

Cade shrugged. "Whatever you want. It doesn't matter to me."

"Then let's ask each other questions & get to know each other better." She suggested.

"Uh. Sure." Cade replied. The two asked questions for nearly two hours.

"What do you think about abortion?" He asked her.

She replied, "I believe if someone wants to have an abortion, then its their right to have one." By now Cade had ordered room service & the two were eating. Upon hearing Beatrix's response, Cade choked on his green beans.

"So you're pro-choice?" She nodded. "I'm sorry. You're a great person bit this isn't going to work out." Cade got up & left Beatrix in the hotel room.

Cade started up his street bike & put his gear back on. As he sat on the seat, Beatrix came running out the hotel building, sobbing. Cade popped a wheelie as he jetted off down the road, passing up every vehicle in sight. He pulled into his garage, took his helmet off & shut off his bike. He took a deep breath as he unzipped his jacket & put his fear back on the shelf.

"Where have you been?" Johnny asked.

"Here, there, everywhere. Doesn't matter really."

Johnny let out a soft grunt. "You can't be hiding things man, its not good for you." Cade didn't reply & Johnny went back into Cade's mansion. Cade knew Johnny was right, but didn't want to reveal everything. Not yet. Not ever.

Cade made his way up stairs to his room and plopped down on his black-sheeted bed. "Twenty-eight days left... What have I gotten myself into... I've signed a contract for my death. It's all over. There's no way out this time... In twenty-eight days, Cade Williamson will be nothing more than a whisper among the streets. I won't survive. Not this time." He thought to himself. Cade closed his eyes & slowly drifted off I to a deep slumber. Cade wasn't a deep sleeper. It was strange. Hours later at around 10:30 that night, Cade awoke to a familiar sound- the sound of bones shattering like glass. Finally cade awoke with a jolt.

"I'll save you!" He yelled only to realize he'd been sleeping the entire time. "No. No. No,no,no,no,no." He kept repeating, shaking his head. He remembered where he had first heard sound from. "Don't do this to me. Please. I can't handle it. Just. Just stop. I'm begging you."

A strange voice began chanting "Cade... Cade. Cade! Cade! Cade!"

Cade looked around the room attempting to find where the voice was coming from. The room was empty & Johnny was asleep on the couch as usual.

"What do you want from me?!" Cade called out. It didn't answer. It only continued to chant his name. "Get out! Leave me alone! I don't want to remember. I was wrong. Just stop it!" Cade began to sweat & panic as he sat on his bed with his head in his hands.

The voice finally stopped calling out his Cade's name & replied, "You're in need of a new path to follow. Listen to me if you want to know what to do next."

"I...I don't understand. What are you rambling on about?" Cade asked the disembodied voice.

"You asked for answers. Now I'm here to give them to you. Do you not accept them?" The voice asked.

"Amuse me." Cade answered.

"The path you've chosen over the last six months is a boulevard of broken dreams, Cade. You mustn't dwell in the past any longer. Forge a new path. A path of forgiveness. If you can do that, then in a month the, when you have to confront Black Thunder & White Lightning, you'll be fine."

"I don't have anything to forgive myself for." Cade told the voice.

"Your mouth says you don't, but your heart & mind say otherwise. Do you recall not long ago when you nearly killed yourself? It was only days after you defeated Gray Cloud."

Cade had never mentioned that to anyone before. He was the o one who knew about it. The voice continued, "You didn't go through with it & things improved. Even in the worst of circumstances things will always get better because they always do. If there's a night, there's a day, there will be a light even in the blackest darkness to guide you. You just have to find it before it goes out. And its just barely flickering now. Don't lose hope. That's not the Cade I used to know."

"No- it can't be. How are you talking to me?!" Cade asked after realizing who the voice belonged to.

"You called so I answered. Goodbye, Cade. May we meet again someday." A black silhouette appeared as the voice faded away. It was a man's body, but it was severely damaged and disfigured. Cade tried to hug it but it vanished before he could.

"Don't leave me again! Please! I can't do this without you!" Cade called out to the voice, who did respond. Cade sobbed into his pillow, begging the voice to return to no avail until he'd cried himself back to sleep.


	6. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

Chapter 6 Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

Dark Ranger explained the situation to the police & the two criminals were arrested. Johnny was taken in for questioning & Dark Ranger vanished into the shadows as usual. His mission was over for now.

It ominously rained for a week straight afterwards. The streets were flooded and houses were damaged beyond repair. No one could leave their homes and many ended up without a home retreat to. Blackwater city had never experienced a phenomenon like this before, but if they'd known what would come next, Blackwater would've already been a ghost town by now.

A gleaming light emanated in the sky above & came hurdling down in a blaze of fire. It was a meteor sized shell that seemed to be some sort of space ship. As it crashed into the lake, an enormous wave emptied the hole completely; drying all the water around it. The shell was white with a black glass-like material acting as the window and door of the ship. The hatch opened with a crisp sound & a creature looking similar to a human, save for his grey ash-like skin stepped from inside the sphere. His eyes were navy blue & he wore a thermal scanner over his left eye. No shirt, but he did have a pair of black skin tight pants on that had chains and spikes dangling from them all over them. It was a wonder how his pants didn't fall down from all the weight. And a pair of blue boots up to his shin with a grey cloud on the sides as a logo of sorts.

The man looked around at his surroundings, scanning for any signs of life nearby. His scanner picked up the shotgun Dark Ranger had tossed in it only a week prior. He grunted softly as he let the air pour back out of his nostrils. "There's life here. Interesting... maybe they can fix this accursed ship." He said to himself, hitting the shell & leaving a large dent behind. "I thought I'd judged the gravitational pull of this underdeveloped planet correctly before I arrived. Oh well. I'm sure I can enslave some of the more intelligent species here

& make them fix it for me." The grey skinned man made his way to the nearby road and walked to the nearest area of civilization- Blackwater city.


	7. New Enemies

Chapter 7 New enemies

Present day

(27 days until deadline)

The next day cade awoke in his bed. His eyes were sore from crying all night and as he stood up & stretched, he rubbed his eyes. After a quick shower, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen & heated up a plate of pizza rolls. Johnny was still asleep on the couch. He probably wouldn't be awake for another few hours. It was 10:32 a.m.

Cade couldn't stop thinking about last night. Have I truly lost it this time? Did I lose my sanity completely? He silently asked himself. He couldn't give an answer as he didn't know himself.

After finishing his breakfast, Cade walked back upstairs & quickly did 200 pushups to wake himself up. He got dressed in black pants, a black shirt with the saying, "Sacrifice is what makes you human in the end" with a tombstone in the background.

He sighed softly & looked out the balcony window down below at the dark alley. It was empty except for a stray calico cat and the usual dumpsters.

A sharp scream echoed suddenly from a block or two over. "You've got to be kidding me..." Cade said as he quickly changed into Dark Ranger's suit and hopped out the balcony onto the nearby roof & quickly headed toward the sound of distress. Upon arriving, he saw the problem almost immediately.

A man in a red suit that covered his entire body except for his mouth with a belt wrapped around his waist was in the streets... throwing magical dodgeballs?!

Dark Ranger didn't believe what he was seeing. A man throwing dodgeballs that seemed to endlessly appear out of thin air was terrorizing his city. "This is ridiculous." He said, hopping down into the street to join the weird man. "Heard you liked playing with balls. That true?" He asked.

The man turned his attention to Dark Ranger. "Well... I mean... Uh... When you put it that way it sounds gay."

"Yeah. Playing with balls is pretty gay." Dark Ranger replied. "But anyway, could you... I don't know... stop messing with everyone? I don't really see any point in doing whatever you're trying to do."

"I am the mighty 'DODGEBALL'! I will take over the world with my power to create dodgeballs out of thin air. Do you dare to stand in my way?" Dodgeball asked in a not so mighty voice.

Dark Ranger chuckled. "So you're plan is to take over the world. With your balls." He laughed harder. "Hey everyone. Watch out for this guy's balls!" He couldn't control his laughter at the man's absurd power and utter stupidity.

Dodgeball was mad. He flung a dodgeball at Dark Ranger that caught him off guard and sent him into the wall of the building behind him.

"Ow... OK maybe you should seriously watch out for his balls. It hurts like a bitch when they hit you." Dark Ranger warned the civilians that hadn't left yet.

"Don't make fun of Dodgeball. I will make you suffer." He said as a flurry of dodgeballs headed for Dark Ranger. He jumped out of the way and the balls implanted into the wall before disappearing as ominously as they'd appeared. Dark Ranger ran towards his new foe carefully dodging all of the projectiles. After kicking Dodgeball to the ground, Dark Ranger punched him in the face.

"You're really weak physically. I could hold you down with one hand if I wanted." Dark Ranger said as he noticed two shiny bracelets on Dodgeball's wrists. "What's this..." He asked aloud as he managed to get the bracelets off after the man struggled to break free.

"Please give those back! Without them I can't use my precious dodgeballs anymore."

"Nah. You're better off without them. Trust me. You aren't that big of a threat. This is for your own good." Police sirens came through the streets to the scene. Dark Ranger put the bracelets in his boots and let the police take the freak away to Blackwater prison.

As Dodgeball was being taken away, he warned Dark Ranger about something. "You'll never defeat Cinder & the others! We're too much for you to take on. You will know true pain when we're done with you." He said before leaving in the back of the police car.

"Thank you Dark Ranger. The city owes you one once again." One of the deputies told him with a warm smile.

"Its fine. I got a good laugh out of it so don't worry about it."

The deputy laughed. "If you say so, friend."

(24 days until deadline)

"I am The Mutilator. I will make you suffer. I will scrape the meat from your bones and feed them to Cinder myself!" A Russian man about 6'8" threatened our hero. He was missing a hand. It was replaced by a sharp hook like a pirate would have. His black hair was scraggly & down to his shoulders. A sash of bullets wrapped around his shirtless torso. Camouflage pants and combat boots were the only apparel he was wearing.

"I don't know who 'Cinder' is but they won't be eating me anytime soon. Sorry pal." Dark Ranger said punching the man in the jaw. He staggered back a few steps before his face met with Dark Ranger's boot.

"You little pest!" He said as he grabbed Dark Ranger's boot and threw him onto the ground. "You might've beaten Dodgeball easily. But you won't defeat me without a good fight!" The Mutilator kicked him in the ribs & heard a few crack.

He smiled and looked down at Dark Ranger. He stood back up & forced himself to fight, punching The Mutilator in the stomach.

"I'll kill you!" The Russian roared as he swung his hook at Dark Ranger, ripping through the cloth of the mask and straight through Dark Ranger's left eye.

He yelled in pain as he grabbed his eye. The black suit covered in blood.

"You biiittttcchhhh!" Dark Ranger cursed as he punched The mutilator with all his might and sent him to the ground. Dark Ranger got on top of him and continuously punched the man's face until it was red with blood like his own. The Mutilator grabbed Dark Ranger and threw him off as he made his escape down an alleyway. Dark Ranger was breathing heavily in rage & chased The Mutilator down the alley only to see that he'd disappeared. It was a dead end alley. There wasn't anywhere for him to go.

"Damn it." He said panting heavily. The blood was pouring out and he was getting light headed. He managed to make it to the hospital that was conveniently only about 1500 feet away.

They bandaged him up luckily without any questions or finding out his identity, & told him the news. He had 3 cracked ribs and his eye wouldn't heal properly. He'd be blind on his left forever. They gave him an eye patch to wear and in another week, he'd been let out.


	8. Killer on the Loose

Chapter 8

17 1/2 months earlier

Grey Cloud made it into Blackwater city a few hours after crashing into the lake. Upon encountering civilization, he attempted to intimidate the citizens only to realize they were all pathetic & useless. He ended up accidentally killing most of the people he intended to intimidate while trying beating them into submission. Sighing, Grey Cloud tossed another casualty onto the ground as he walked through, not out the glass door of the local café. Pain was not something he experienced often as his species had very few pain receptors within their bodies. The older you got the less pain you felt for them.

Stepping on the shattered glass like it wasn't there, he continued his search for adequate slaves to fix his ship. "This planet is pathetic. No one can take a proper beating here. Either way, I have to find someone to fix my ship so I get off this shitty planet. I've already decided I hate this place & its only been a few hours. I'll destroy this planet as soon as I get off it." He said to himself as he continued down the sidewalk.

"Hmm... He's dangerous. Definitely not a normal person. No way I can take him on right now. I'll have to think of another way to approach this brute." Dark Ranger thought to himself as he sat in the shadows spying on the extraterrestrial.

Grey Cloud was losing his patience quickly as no one he came in contact with was capable of meeting his requirements. He left a trail of lifeless bodies behind him & the numbers were racking up quickly.

Within thirty minutes, the cops had shown up to put the murderer down.

"Freeze! Put your hands in the air & surrender. You're under arrest." One of the policemen ordered over a megaphone. The other policemen readied their guns. There were sixteen policemen with eight patrol cars ready to put Grey Cloud down if he resisted arrest.

Grey Cloud smirked with interest. "These specimen seem more hostile than the others I've encountered so far. These may be the slaves I've been looking for." He thought to himself. Grey Cloud continued walking toward the police squadron. With each inch he gained on the squadron, the men began to tremble with fear as they could see how tall & muscular the man was. He was only forty feet away.

"I said freeze, scumbag! You have until three & then my men are opening fire." The man threatened once more. Grey Cloud continued walking with no intention of stopping. "One... Two... Three! Open fire men!"

The police force opened fire on the ash colored, seven foot tall man. It didn't phase Grey Cloud. He shrugged the bullets off as they ricocheted off his flesh with each shot.

As he reached the police force, he stood directly in front of the megaphone user. The man trembled in fear as Grey Cloud stared at him. "Your weapons are as disappointing as your species. They only tickle. How disappointing. I was hoping to turn you all into my slaves. Oh well. I'll just put you out of your misery." Grey Cloud grabbed the man by the throat & raised him into the air, crushing his windpipe & snapping his neck before throwing him to the ground.

The others fled in fear screaming for their lives. Grey Cloud smiled & grabbed one of their weak pistols & shot every last man that tried to flee in the back of the head. He'd single-handedly taken down sixteen policemen with absolutely no effort.

Grey Cloud sighed. "Hopefully someone here is worthy. I don't want to be stuck here forever." He said to himself.

"Well then," Dark ranger began with a deep breath. "This is definitely not going to be easy. I'm going to need a bit of help for this..." Dark Ranger made his way back to his mansion knowing their was a crazy murderer on the loose in his city.

Once he'd changed back into his normal outfit of a pair of red sneakers, blue jeans, & a red shirt, he made his way down to the kitchen to find his friend Sam opening a can of Pepsi. Sam was his best friend from highschool & stayed at Cade's house most of the time. He was an average build with blue eyes & brown hair that barely covered his forehead. "So Sam, you want to help me out with something?" Sam looked up at his friend with curiosity & interest as he took a sip of Pepsi.


	9. Kicked Out

Chapter 9

(20 days until deadline)

Cade was released from the hospital & made his way back to his mansion on foot. He'd got a change of clothes before heading out & sa wearing normal clothes instead of his Dark Ranger outfit from before. He wasn't happy about the eyepatch but there wasn't anything he could do. Once he arrived at his house, he was shocked. For one, Johnny wasn't there & second, someone was rummaging through his house. A thief had broken in.

"Oh hell no." He said to himself as he quickly confronted the thief.

The criminal jolted around to face Cade & nearly fell off her feet. "Any specific reason for why you're in my house?" Cade asked aggressively.

The woman was nervous & unsure how to respond. "I was... Going to surprise you & clean your house."

"Yeah, by STEALING my shit. Bitch get the fuck out before I call the police. I'm not in the mood for your bullshit." Cade ordered the woman.

"Wait. Word is you know Dark Ranger. Deliver a message for me." She told him as she stood back up. Cade looked at the woman with interest & curiosity.

"Yeah. I might know how to get in touch with him." Cade told her.

"Tell him that Cinder is coming for him & that nothing will stop her & the superiors from putting him down."

Cade raised his head & looked directly into the woman's eyes. She had a black latex suit on that stayed tight to her slim, curvaceous figure & only left her eyes & mouth uncovered. "'Superiors'? What does that mean? Who are the 'superiors'?" Cade asked.

The woman smiled devilishly. "You're looking at one right now. The five of us, well, four now, will be his end. Don't forget to deliver my message Cade Williamson." She said as she outlined his eyepatch with her claw-like finger. The woman, who went by the name of 'The Cat', pushed Cade to the ground & jumped out the window before Cade had a chance to question her further or apprehended her. He rushed to the window, but she was already gone.

"She must've meant the people The Mutilator mentioned before..." He paused & pressed his hand to the eye patch. "So there's five of them... Dodgeball is out of the picture. So that leaves Cinder, The Mutilator, The Cat, & an unknown... I don't have time for this crap. I'm supposed to be finding out how to bring back Grey Cloud. I only have twenty days left." Cade sighed & went to his room to rest.

-Next day-

After a quick shower, Cade put his eye patch on, got dressed in his normal blacked out outfit & yo his surprise saw Johnny on the couch asleep. "What the hell. He disappears when he's needed & shows up out of nowhere? Gay." Cade thought to himself. He walked over to the navy blue couch & pulled d Johnny off.

"What gives, man?" Johnny asked rubbing his head. "I was trying to sleep."

"First, all you do is sleep. There's no way you could be so tired that you sleep this much. And second, where the hell were you yesterday? The one time you need to be here, you weren't. So, what gives, man?" Cade asked him.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Johnny noticed the eye patch in the light. Although practically living together, they rarely interacted. Cade was usually out as Dark Ranger & Johnny was usually asleep. " what happened to your eye? Are you okay?" Johnny asked as he stood up with a worried tone.

"Don't remind me. Just tell me why the one time you weren't here, something happened." Cade replied as he his the eye patch out of the light.

"I was at the arcade a few blocks over all day. Stayed til closing. And now I'm here." Johnny answered. "Now what about that eye?"

"Doesn't matter." Cade said as he walked to the kitchen & opened a Sprite.

"What do you mean, 'doesn't matter'?" Your eye's all fucked up & shit. There's definitely a lot of matter to be done." Johnny told his friend. "Show me."

"No. Fuck off." He waved his hand blowing Johnny off. Johnny tried to grab the eye patch to take it off, but Cade pushed him back before he could get a grasp. "I said no. I'm not showing you."

"Show me, Cade. I'm tired of you hiding shit from me. What's the point? Why can't you just be straight with me? I thought we were friends..." Johnny replied, the hurt clearly evident in his voice.

Cade took a deep breath & set his drink on the counter to turn to Johnny. "You want me to be honest with you? Tell you all my little secrets? Is that what you want?" Johnny nodded. "I got this from a fight with some muscular Russian freak. He had a hook hand & it cut straight through my eye." Cade explained as he pulled his eye patch up to reveal the scarred & mutilated remains of what had been his left eye. Johnny laughed.

"Do you expect me to believe that bullshit? Come on, a Russian guy with a hook hand? That's ridiculous. I guess you're going to tell me he was a pirate too?"

"He definitely wouldn't believe the story about Dodgeball then." Cade thought to himself."This is part of why I keep things to myself. You're never serious enough to talk to. Forget it."

"I still want to know why you refuse to let me be your sidekick." Johnny brought up.

"Yeah. Not going to happen. That story stays with me. Drop it." Cade replied quickly.

"Friends are supposed to tell each other everything. Its part of the job yknow."

"Some things are better left unsaid, Johnny. Now drop it." Cade warned again.

"Tell me. I can handle the truth. No worries." Johnny replied with a smile.

"Bloody hell! He just can't fucking listen!" Cade thought to himself. "Johnny. I'm serious. Drop it. Forget about it. I'm not telling you." Cade repeated.

"Tell. Me. Cade."

"Fuck it. I'm done. Get the fuck out." Cade ordered as he stood up & began pushing Johnny to the door.

"What? You're kicking me out just like that? Come on now. Don't he like this."

Cade didn't care anymore. Johnny was really getting on his nerves. Cade opened the door & pushed Johnny out onto the street. "Please don't do this, Cade." Johnny said fighting back tears at his mistake.

"Don't come back. We aren't friends. Go to your own home & live their like a normal damn person." Cade said as he slammed the door in Johnny's face & locked it back. Cade exhaled loudly & finished his Sprite before going to his room & pulling the ruined suit of Dark Ranger out of his closet.

"Probably shouldn't have made the mask a part of the suit itself." He said to himself as he ran his fingers over the torn part. It had hardened by this point from all the blood he'd spilt on it that day.

"Well its about time for an upgrade I guess." He thought as he grabbed a large wooden chest from beneath his bed & unlatched it. The inside smelled like moth balls & leather.

Cade grabbed some of the black leather & cleared his desk off to lie it on. After carefully measuring his face, he cut the leather so that it would fit his face & made sure that an eye patch was on it as well to cover his bad eye. After a few more hours, he'd created a brand new leather mask. It had an eye patch, a belt on the back to adjust the size, & a zipper on the front to cover his mouth. He'd made sure to make the spot where his mouth was look like a normal mouth while it was zipped. It had rows of teeth on both ends of the zipper & red outlines like gums. He threw the trash away & tried his new mask on in the mirror. He was definitely scarier than before & the mask had a natural "I don't care about anything" look to it that Cade liked. This was the new face of Dark Ranger. Plus since it was made of leather, it was slightly sturdier than the cloth material he'd been using.

"Now I just need to figure out to what to make the suit out of. Leather is out of the question. I'm Dark Ranger not some bondage porn star." He said to himself. By now it was 9:23 p.m.. He'd lost track of the time. It'd taken nearly ten straight hours to make that mask. "Meh. I'll do it tomorrow. I'm going to sleep." Cade went to sleep & for once in a long time felt decently happy. Those days were rare after dealing with Grey Cloud. Sure, he'd defeated the murderer but at a big cost.

AUTHOR NOTE: YES DARK RANGER NOW WEARS KANEKI'S MASK FROM TOKYO GHOUL. I FEEL LIKE AFTER LOSING HIS EYE & GETTING HIS EYE PATCH, IT WAS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO PUT THAT EASTER EGG/ REFERENCE IN THE STORY. IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, ITS EVEN THE SAME EYE THAT'S COVERED FOR KANEKI & DARK RANGER. ?

I FEEL DARK RANGER WEARING KANEKI'S MASK IS PERFECT FOR THE TYPE OF HERO/ANTIHERO HE IS. CADE WILL BE WEARING A NORMAL EYE PATCH LIKE KANEKI DOES WHEN HE'S NOT BEING THE HERO OF BLACKWATER CITY AS WELL IF YOU WERE WONDERING.


	10. Killing Machine

Chapter 10: killing machine

15 Months ago

Two months have passed since Grey Cloud crash landed on earth & started terrorizing Blackwater City. Of the 200,031citizens of Blackwater citizens, over 5,000 had been killed & only about 1,500 had managed to escape the city with their lives. The other citizens were either too poor to leave, or hiding away hoping to not be discovered by Grey Cloud.

"Cade, I don't understand the plan here." Sam told him. Cade popped Sam on the head.

"I'm Dark Ranger damn it. Don't say that name. Bad." He shunned his friend for the rookie mistake & continued to spy on Grey Cloud.

"Sorry." Sam apologized.

"Anyway, the plan is to try to fight this guy." Dark ranger told him.

"Try? Are you serious right now? You don't even know what to do?! Jesus, man! This is suicide." Sam told Dark Ranger in astonishment.

"Yeah, pretty much." Dark Ranger replied. Sam sighed in disbelief.

"Woah, woah, wait. You can't be serious!" Sam said as Dark Ranger inacted his plan. Sam quickly followed behind him.

Dark Ranger revealed himself to Grey Cloud for the first time. Sam was behind him in his eye covering mask, & tight black suit made of the same clothy material as Dark Ranger's suit.

"Who are you? What is this supposed to be?" Grey Cloud asked them.

"Well, believe it or not, we're going to stop you." Dark Ranger replied halfheartedly. Grey Cloud stared at them for a moment trying to figure out if they were serious.

"Do you honestly expect to do that? I mean, your weapons do nothing to me. You're just like the people I've killed. Mostly by accident. How could you possibly defeat me?" Grey Cloud asked.

"No idea honestly. But I'll wing it. We're going to put you down." Dark Ranger answered.

"Interesting. I like you. You're different than the others. You'd be an amazing slave. I won't kill you. Instead, I'll just capture you & force you to obey my every command."

"So I'm a Pokémon now? That's cool I guess." Dark Ranger replied jokingly. Grey Cloud was unsure what he meant but decided it didn't matter.

"I will make you my slave. That is now my main goal. I will not leave this planet alive without you as my slave. What is your name?"

"Dark Ranger. Remember it. I'm going to be the one that makes you wish you'd never came here."

"You talk big but can you back that up?" Grey Cloud asked with a smirk.

"Let's find out." Dark Ranger replied as he lunged forward. Grey Cloud effortlessly grabbed his fist. Sam jumped to kick him while he was distracted but Grey Cloud grabbed him as well with his free hand.

"That was underwhelming. How unfortunate. I expected something challenging." Grey Cloud pinched Sam & he instantly fell unconscious. Grey Cloud dropped him to the ground & began to choke Dark Ranger. "Now that that useless pest is out of the picture, we can have our own chat. I will make you my slave. Accept it." Grey Cloud tightened his grip & Dark Ranger began coughing & his eyes teared up. Grey Cloud smiled. "The look in your eyes at this exact moment. I love the way your eyes let me know how much you're suffering." He took a deep, long breath & smiled. "Don't you wish you could breathe right now? The feeling of helplessness you must be feeling right now is enough to make me shiver in pleasure. I'm going to make good use for your toned & delicate figure. Don't worry. You'll be fun to play with." Grey Cloud said as he licked his lips.

"Gay." Dark Ranger managed as he choked.

Grey Cloud loosened his grip & dropped Dark Ranger to the ground. He gasped for air. "You're insane if you think I'm going to be you're slave. I'm not some kind of faggoty faggot. Screw that." Dark Ranger responded as he continued to breathe heavily.

"The more you resist, the more I want you. Be mine Dark Ranger. Be my slave." Grey Cloud urged.

"I'm not into that. Sorry." Dark Ranger repeated. Sam began to wake up about this time.

"I see. You prefer this creature as your mate. I'll take care of this then." Grey Cloud said as he began to summon electricity in his palm to get rid of Sam.

"No. I don't like him like that. Don't kill him." Dark Ranger said as he got in front of Sam. "I'm just not into being someone's bitch."

"Hmm... I'll spare him for your sake. But don't forget that I want you. I will have you." Grey Cloud told him. "Now go wherever you stay. Then think about this. Consider how good you'd live as my slave. I'll be at Coffee Grande in three weeks. Meet me there. Either be prepared to be my slave or prepared to be skewered along with that." Grey Cloud motioned towards Sam.

"I'll never be your slave. I'll be there to kill you." Dark Ranger replied as he picked up his friend & left the streets heading back to his mansion.

Grey Cloud smiled. "I was hoping for that. I love when they play hard to get. I'm going to enjoy making you submit to my will, Dark Ranger." Grey Cloud thought to himself.


	11. Dreams

Chapter 11: dreams

Present day (19 days)

Cade walked through the streets of blackwater city in his normal all black attire. No one was there. Everyone was gone. Blackwater was deserted. "Hello? Is anyone there?" He called out. No reply.

A figure in black with a leather mask suddenly flashed a shadow in front of Cade. Cade jumped unsure of who it was. "Is someone there?" The shadow appeared again. "Show yourself!" Cade yelled as he looked around.

Suddenly the figure revealed himself. It was Dark Ranger. His alter ego. "What is this?" Cade asked as he attempted to touch Dark Ranger, whom stepped back.

"Don't touch me." Dark Ranger told Cade.

"But you're me. I don't understand. What's going on?" Cade asked. Dark Ranger stayed silent. "Answer me!" Cade yelled as he attempted to punch Dark Ranger. The punch was blocked & Dark Ranger retaliated with a punch to Cade's stomach.

"Compared to me, you're weak. You're caring & let's face it- you have more demons hiding than hell itself. You're a pathetic excuse for a person." Dark Ranger said.

"We're the same person. That doesn't make sense." Cade replied.

"No." Dark Ranger said. "We aren't the same. I'm a creation of yours that helps you cope with your bullshit problems because for some reason you can't do it yourself. You're a disappointment compared to me." Dark Ranger replied.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Cade asked. "I made you. I can destroy you."

"Can you really? I mean honestly. Can you? Let's just think for a second you can. If I'm out of the picture, how will you deal with your demons? Huh? Face it, Cade. You need me. I'm here to stay."

"This makes no sense." Cade said.

"If I'm gone, you're solution to your problems is suicide. But we can't have that. I'm not dying. That's stupid. Now grow the hell up because the world is cruel & everyone has to deal with bullshit on a daily basis. Get over yourself already. This is ridiculous." Dark Ranger urged.

"I know I'm pathetic. I know you're my coping device. I don't care about that though. I created you & that means I still have a shot at being normal again because we're the same person. That's what keeps me going at this point." Cade told his alter ego.

Dark Ranger smiled through his unzipped mask. "That's right. You can be normal again, but not without me. I'm glad you understand that. At least you're not too far gone yet. Now wake the hell up!" Dark Ranger yelled as he suddenly turned into a towering murderous clown & scared Cade awake.

"That was crazy." He said as he shook his head. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Cade got dressed & went into the kitchen as usual. It felt unusual to not have Johnny sleeping on the couch. The house was empty feeling. After eating some pizza rolls, he decided to head to a local coffee shop, Coffee Grande.

"I remember meeting Grey Cloud here that one time. He was a complete freak." He thought to himself as he ordered a cappuccino & sat at the bar.

A woman with glasses & long brown hair suddenly spoke out to him from a couple seats to the right. "Hey. You know anything about withdrawal? Hello? Whatever." She saw that Cade wasn't listening or caring about what she was saying & left the coffee shop with a man with a nice figure that clearly was drug addict.

He didn't stay long. A few minutes after the random question from the woman, he headed back home on his motorcycle. "Wonder what Johnny is doing." He thought. Once he was back home, Cade went upstairs to his room & brought the new black leather Dark Ranger mask out of his closet & stared at it

meaninglessly. "I created a monster. I never should of done this. It was a mistake." He threw the mask angrily at the wall. "I'm going to die because of you!" Cade lashed out. The mask seemed to taunt him as it laid motionlessly on the floor with what appeared to be an evil smile on the mask.

"Why am I so unstable?! I hate this!" He yelled as he cupped his face in his hands & dropped to the ground. Eventually Cade fell asleep on his bed.

"Cade! Cade! Cade!" He heard as an unfamiliar voice rang in his head. He jolted awake only to realize he wasn't in his home anymore. He had no idea where he was. Everything appeared the same. A winding, floating path & a sky of a variety of colors & shapes was all he saw. A mysterious laughter echoed behind him. Cade quickly turned around to find no one there. It echoed again behind him but once again no one was around.

Cade followed the path as laughter continued to echo all around him as if taunting him. "Where am I?" He asked aloud. No response. He continued down the path a bit further until a figure was off in the distance. Cade sprinted towards it & once he'd caught up the figure turned around with an enormous smile & piercing red eyes. He appeared as a clown. "Who are you?" Cade asked.

"Hmm... My name is Polo. I'm the dream maestro. I've taken the liberty of entering your mind & I must say, you have some very messed up thoughts hidden deep inside." He said with a snicker. "I can do anything I want as long as you're asleep. For example-" He snapped his fingers & Sam appeared in front of Cade. Cade's heart skipped a beat at the sight & closed his eyes.

"I don't want to see Sam. If you're in my head as you say, you'd know that." Cade responded. Sam disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"I know what you want to see & what you don't. I know everything about you." Polo told him.

"Are you with or against me? I need to know."

"Neither." Polo answered. "I'm the final superior yes, but I wish not to fight you. I'm only interested in your mind. I'm surprised you're even able to function sometimes with the way your mind acts. It truly intrigues me."

"Do me a favor & get out of my head." Cade said with controlled anger.

"Can't. Sorry. If I left your mind, I'd die & I can't have that." Polo responded. "Its best to just accept it. I'm not going to harm you anyway."

"Get out of my head!" Cade yelled as he tried to hit the dream clown. Polo disappeared & reappeared behind him.

"You aren't too good st this are you? This is the dream world. I can do anything I want & you can't do a thing to stop it. So either let it be or try to fight it. I won't hesitate to destroy your mind further than it is already."

"Tsk, stay if you want but if you do anything I don't like, I will kill you." Cade threatened.

Polo smiled. "As you wish, Shadow Boy." Polo snapped his fingers again & everything disappeared. The dream was over. Cade was awake.

"Problem after problem. I can't get a break." He said to himself as he stretched & got dressed. "Now all I need is to find out who this 'Cinder' is." He thought as he looked in the mirror & saw the gash where his left eye used to be. Cade ran his hand over the scar tissue unable to feel a thing from the nerve damage. "I have to kill The Mutilator. He did this to me & now its time to return the favor." Cade said as fury built up inside him & he punched the mirror, shattering it. He bloodied his knuckles up & wrapped gauze around his hand. "That was stupid of me." He thought.

A knock came from Cade's door & he quickly put his eye patch on & headed to the door. He opened it & a familiar person gave him a smile as they stepped inside. Cade was lost for words.


	12. Futility

Chapter 12: Futility  14 months 1 week before White Lightning's arrival -Coffee Grande Grey Cloud stood inside the coffee shop awaiting his prey's arrival. Only a waiter st the counter was there. Grey Cloud was fond of iced coffee made sure someone was able to make it for him. "Here's your mocha frappe sir." the man said as he nervously sat the drink on the counter in front of Grey Cloud. He smiled sipped it slowly through a straw. "I know you're there, Dark Ranger. I can sense you. You really should learn to control your heartbeat. I can hear it from here." Grey Cloud announced. Dark Ranger stepped out of the shadows into the shop. "I know already I can't beat you. Not yet at least. But i also know you won't allow me to die. That means I don't really need to fear you when I attack. You'll be conservative with your strength." "I see your little friend isn't here to help. And yes that is correct. But i will still hurt you if needed." Grey Cloud replied. "I didn't want him here. I wanted to do this on my own. I can't let him die trying to help me." Dark Ranger explained. "Smart. I'd kill him without a second thought. Grey Cloud smirked. Dark Ranger angrily flung a metal stool at the alien. Grey Cloud caught it broke it in half with almost no effort. "This should be entertaining." he said aloud as he prepared to fight Dark Ranger. Grey Cloud conjured a ball of ice in his palm flung it at Dark Ranger. Dark Ranger bent backwards narrowly dodging it before throwing another stool at the alien that was once again broken in half. Grey Cloud charged at Dark Ranger only for him to run up the wall jump behind him. Grey Cloud hit the wall hard enough to shake the entire building turned around with an angry look on his face. "Do you not understand i'm practically invincible to your earth weapons combat? I singlehandedly destroyed half the army before they realized they didn't stand a chance. Do you honestly believe you can kill me?" Grey Cloud asked. "Not really, I doubt i can,  but if it's possible, i want all the credit for killing you when it happens." Dark Ranger admitted. "Greedy little human." Grey Cloud threw a lightning bolt at Dark Ranger that missed by inches exploded into the wall. Dark Ranger threw another stool with another futile attempt at harming Grey Cloud. But this time, he ran towards him while he was distracted punched him full force in the stomach. Dark Ranger flinched. "Son of a bitch. I feel like i just punched a fucking mountain." he yelled as he checked to see if it was broken. It wasn't but it was going to be sprained in the morning. Grey Cloud smirked with a laugh. "If your rockets don't harm me, how could your fist? I don't understand your human logic." "Me either. Its just something about us. We don't care how impossible something may be. We'll risk our lives to prove otherwise. I admit it's kind of stupid of us, but it's the human way." Dark Ranger replied. "How have you people managed to survive more than a few years on this planet?" Grey cloud rhetorically asked. He grabbed Dark Ranger by the arm lifted him up. "You're throwing your life away trying to kill me." "I threw my life away a long time ago. I don't care." Grey Cloud knew this human would be a good slave. He dropped him to the ground. "I need someone to fix my ship. Do you know someone that can?" he asked. "No. Maybe a scientist. I don't know. I hope you know i have no intentions of being your friend. You've killed so many people. I can't allow you to live." "But if you kill me, wouldn't that make you a horrible killer as well?" Grey Cloud asked. "I only kill those who are unnecessary." Dark Ranger replied. "Unnecessary is an opinion. By that logic we're the same." Grey Cloud retorted. "No." Dark Ranger replied. He grabbed a pot of coffee flung it towards Grey Cloud. The glass pot shattered the boiling hot coffee covered the alien's chest. Grey Cloud let out a shriek of pain as the coffee burnt his skin. "Motherfucker! You dumb cunt! Fucking damn it that hurt!" Grey Cloud snarled. "Interesting... He seems to be vulnerable to heat. Wait... Maybe its coffee? No. That doesn't make sense." Dark Ranger thought to himself. Grey Cloud grabbed him by the throat. "Remember last time this happened? It makes me warm inside to see you struggle." "Fuck...you." "You're very interesting Dark Ranger. You won't give up even though you know you can't beat me." Grey Cloud let him go. "I don't care if I'm weaker than you. I'll keep coming after you over over until one of us is dead. Don't underestimate me." he replied as he regained his breath. "I cant wait to see which if of us keels over first then." Grey Cloud said. "It won't be me. I promise you that." Dark Ranger replied. Grey Cloud smiled at the confident remark. "We shall see. We shall see." Grey Cloud said.


	13. Stranger in my House

Chapter 13: Stranger in my house Present day "Who are you?" Cade asked the mysterious man who'd walked inside his house. The man sat on the couch in a white shirt, blue jeans, orange sneakers with black sunshades.  "My name is Mathew Brooks. I hear you're the protector of this city, Cade Williamson. Is that true?" he asked as he took his sunglasses off revealing his green eyes that were yellowed bloodshot. "I don't know what you're talking about." Cade replied.  "Don't lie to me. I know you're Dark Ranger. And that your mentality is more than questionable since the Grey Cloud incident. I know someone; A scientist, that can analyze your brain potentially reverse the affects it had on you. She could help you, but only if you help me defeat a... powerful adversary."  " "I don't appreciate you showing up randomly to my house questioning my sanity. Yknow, i could kill you for insulting me like that." Cade threatened. Brooks stood up snapped his fingers. Suddenly his right arm had turned to flame. Cade was shocked by the augmentation of Brooks' arm. "This is only part of my power. Don't underestimate me."  "If you can do more than that, why do you need me?" "I can't control it very well... It strains my body significantly. If i use it too long, it will drain my energy. I need you to be my backup." Brooks explained.  "Hmph. Sorry, but I'll have to decline the offer. I have important matters to attend to at the moment." Cade told him. Brooks sighed.  "I understand. Hopefully I'll be strong enough to defeat them before it's too late. Sorry to bother you." Brooks said as he left Cade's home.  "That guy was a drug addict. He probably doesn't know what he's talking about. Wait... That was the same guy i saw a few days ago at coffee grande. Was that woman the scientist he spoke of?" Cade snapped his fingers imitating Brooks. "Damn. That would've been cool. Oh well." After eating showering, Cade laid in bed thought about the mysterious man he'd met earlier his powers before going to sleep for the night. 


	14. Fire

Chapter 14: Fire 14 months before White Lightning's arrival Cade's home~ By this point, Grey Cloud's reign over Blackwater city was an accepted part of the way of life. There was nothing that could be done to stop him. He had no weaknesses. Well, until a week ago when Dark Ranger had found out the alien's body was extra sensitive to heat. This was a very valuable piece of information towards taking him down.  Cade was at home thinking up a plan to stop Grey Cloud while Sam was less productive with his life sleeping on the couch or playing video games. Cade had spent the entire week since finding the weakness planning an attack that could potentially kill or at least fatally wound the alien.  Luckily, Grey Cloud had yet to sweep every corner of the city still. He focused on the main area where most of the population had once inhabited. Cade's home was yet to be discovered. Cade sighed. "Fuck this shit. I have no idea what I'm doing." he admitted aloud at his desk. Pencils, paper sketches were scattered all over the place. The small trash can was filled to the rim with crumbled pieces of paper that Cade had given up on.  "Jesus Christ. That was crazy! How could he have thought of that?!" Sam yelled in astonishment at the game he was playing. Cade stepped down to see what the commotion was about. "You should've been here a second ago! My main character over here just killed someone by pouring alcohol on them lighting them on fire! It was awesome." Sam explained as he continued the story. His eyes were bright lively that made Cade happy to see.  "Wait. What did he just say? Something about fire alcohol?" he thought. Cade suddenly realized something asked Sam to explain to quickly explain it again.  "That's it! Damn it. The solution was so simple i overlooked it. I was trying to create an intricate plan to blow him up or something when i should've been planning to burning him to death in the bar downtown! Sam, you just saved the entire city! Or, i guess, like. 20 or 30 percent of it anyway but still." Sam had never seen Cade all happy excited like this since the release of Captain America: Civil War almost three years ago. It was a very good feeling to see Cade so happy for once. "I'm not sure i understand, Cade." Sam replied with a friendly smile. "Listen carefully. This is the plan." 2 days later ~ Liquor Good  The plan was made two days later Cade had arranged another 1on1 confrontation with Grey Cloud. This time at Liquor Good, a local bar with a suggestive name. Too bad there were no strippers or sex rooms like most would think. "How is that dumb friend of yours, Dark Ranger? Haven't heard about him in a while. Is he still as useless as he was last time?" Grey Cloud taunted with a smirk. Unbeknownst to him, Sam was in the storage room nearby preparing for the attack.  "Fuck you. Now do you want your ship fixed or not?" Cade asked gritting his teeth at Grey Cloud's remarks. "Ah yes. That's why we were meeting wasn't it. Have you found a way to get me back home, Dark Ranger?"  "I think so. If you can take me to it, i think i might be able to repair it. Assuming its fixable anyway." Dark Ranger replied. "Hmm. We can go right now. I have nothing to do anyway. And you just seem to run around in that suit all the time." Grey Cloud said.  Cade froze. He wasn't expecting Grey Cloud to want to go fix the ship at this very moment. He had to stall for Sam. "No i can't right now. I don't have any of my... things with me. It'll have to wait until tomorrow." he explained. "Fuck! He isn't going to fall for this. There's no way." he thought to himself.  Grey Cloud sighed. "Fine. Just make sure you have it fixed pronto. I have business on my own planet to attend to."  "Holy fuck it worked. No way. This is crazy. How could he not be able to tell i'm lying? Unless maybe he does he's trying to play it off like he's clueless! Son of bitch now I'm even more paranoid..." Dark Ranger thought.  "Sure. Ill do it as fast as i can." Dark Ranger assured him. "Sam, how long does it take to find alcohol in a fucking bar?! I can't keep this up forever." he thought nervously.  Grey Cloud moved his hand to grab a fly in the air Dark Ranger jumped almost out of his seat. "Are you okay?" "Yeah. I'm fine. I just don't feel very good. I think i might be sick or something." he made up.  Grey Cloud gave him a weird stare shrugged it off as some other stupid human thing. Sam had managed to open all the kegs as they all poured into the floor, he watched it trail into the main area where Cade Grey Cloud were.  Sam quickly slipped out through an air vent to continue the plan. He made it outside to the front entrance of the bar poured gasoline all over the sidewalk in front. This was a last resort part of the plan in case Grey Cloud decided to exit before the main plan had time to take its course.  "What's that?" Grey Cloud asked as he spotted the alcohol trail on the floor. This was the cue to initiate the second part of the plan. Grey Cloud stood up, followed by Dark Ranger as they followed the trail to the storage room. Grey Cloud opened the door to see the kegs all pouring alcohol into the floor. Before he could make sense of it all, he heard the sound of a match being struck. Grey Cloud turned around just in time to see Dark Ranger toss it into the alcohol igniting the entire room in flames with Grey Cloud inside it.  Dark Ranger quickly slammed the door shut so hard that it jammed tight, trapping Grey Cloud inside. Dark Ranger quickly met back up with Sam watched the bar burn down as Grey Cloud yelled shrieked in pain agony.  "Is it over? Is that it?" Sam asked surprised.  "I hope so." Cade replied. After a few minutes the painful cries had ceased. Grey Cloud was dead. After months of murdering innocent civilians, he had met his end. It was time to celebrate the achievement.  It should've been at least. Grey Cloud had managed to conjure one final lightning bolt before his demise that struck Sam directly in the heart. The jolt of electricity was so overpowering his heart exploded his brain was reduced to nothing. Cade watched as his friend quiet literally dropped dead right in front his eyes. "No, no, no, no, no. Sam! You can't die on me." Cade dropped to his knees as he checked Sam for a heartbeat. The only noise he heard was his own crying over his friend's death. "Sam... You can't leave me. This wasn't part of the plan damn it!" the longer he looked at Sam, the more tears ran down his eyes. "I knew i shouldn't have let you help me. It's all my fault you're dead. I knew I should've just left you out of the hero picture..." he thought aloud.  Cade took ripped his suit off threw it into the flaming building. He carried Sam's lifeless body back to the mansion as he sobbed. 3 hours later~ Cade buried his friend in his backyard beneath an old oak tree. There was no way a proper funeral would be held after the city had almost been wiped out.  Cade managed to speak a few words. "I'm so sorry, Sam. It's all my fault. I won't let this happen again. I promise. I'm done playing the hero. I'm done."  Another rainstorm came soon after that lasted for a few days. This one was weaker was off on though unlike the previous week long one before Grey Cloud had Crashed. Authors note: Sam Grey Cloud are dead. Cade retired from being a hero. Also i would like to say, at this point,  Cade did still wear clothing under his suit so don't think he carried Sam while he was nude.


	15. Sucker for Pain

Chapter 15:

Present day

It was a slow day. Nothing much was happening & Cade was enjoying a break from being a masked vigilante. He hadn't heard from Johnny since he had kicked him out. Cade had barely even thought about him since that day until now. Something clicked in his head that made him remember. Cade couldn't bring himself to call him but instead decided for some reason even Cade didn't know, to hack Johnny & see if he could find anything about him that he didn't already know.

He grabbed his laptop & flipped it open, punching in his password (Gunner779) & started the complicated process of hacking his friend. After about 15 minutes, Cade came to an unusual conclusion. He couldn't find anything; no social media, no medical history, no registry in Blackwater's populace, no anything. Johnny was a ghost as far as the world was concerned.

"What the hell is going on? Johnny doesn't even have a social media account. Pfft. Weirdo." Cade closed the laptop & nearly fell off the couch when a knock came at the door. "I swear if this is some new freak barging in with no explanation of how they got my address..." Cade opened the door to a slender woman in a red glittery slit side dress & bright green eyes. She let herself inside.

"Cade Williamson? The son of the late Grace & Clyde Williamson?" she asked.

Cade looked at her mysteriously as he closed the door. "Yeah? Why? How do you know that? How do you know my parents names?" he asked her.

She smiled. "That's what i thought. Good. The kitty wasn't lying to me." she replied.

"What the fuck. Are you high?" Cade asked the woman.

"Cade Williamson, you're coming with me." she said as she blew a glittery red dust into Cade's face. He inhaled it & coughed a little before getting woozy & passing out. The woman had kidnapped Cade.

He woke up chained to a chair with a black sack over his head. He looked around frantically as he didn't know what was going on. Suddenly the sack was ripped off his head & the woman from before was staring him in the face.

"Cade. Its come to my knowledge that you know how to contact Dar Ranger. Tell me who he is & how to contact him or ill torture you until you either die or tell me what i want to know." she told him.

"Go ahead. The pain you'll cause me will never amount to what I've felt in the past."

Nikolai, strap him up." she ordered one of her lackeys.

The man walked up to cade & pulled a chain down from the ceiling & wrapped his arms in it. The chair he was latched to was thrown out from under him as the man hoisted him up. Cade recognized the man as The Mutilator. An intense rage welled up inside Cade as he realized where he was. He was inside the hideout of The Superiors. "That means the woman is Cinder." he thought to himself.

A sharp pain came as a cracking sound echoed throughout his body. Cinder had struck his back with a metal baseball bat.

"Tell me what i want to know & ill stop." she ordered. Cade refused to let her have her way. The beating continued to get more violent as time as went on.

"Its been four hours Cinder. I don't think he'll crack. Plus if we don't give him a break he's going to die without telling us. He can barely breath. He already has at least six or seven broken ribs & no telling how many times you've tazed him already." The Cat told her master. Cinder wasn't pleased. She had been beating Vade for four hours & he hadn't said a thing.

She sighed. "I'm not done with you yet Cade. Tomorrow we'll be back to beat you more. And every day after that until you die or tell us where Dark Ranger is." she struck him one more time with the bat ij the stomach before leaving the room with her lackeys.

"What have i gotten myself into?..." he thought to himself weakly as his impaired vision began fading in & out before he passed out.

Author's note: so Cade has been captured by the superiors and it isnt looking good. He's going to have to either tell them what they want or be beaten to death. Which will he choose?

This story is officially on hiatus until further notice. I will now be focusing on S.T.A.T.E.S. for a few chapters and then try to finish a new story. Then ill update this again.


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